Feathery things

I've been doing a bit of ringing lately...

Female Swallow we caught in a mist-net at Beeston, right next to the bird feeders! Don't think she was after sunflower hearts, somehow...

Juvenile Long-tailed Tit

and juvenile Chaffinch, both from Beeston. You can see the primaries are still growing out of their 'pins' (sheaths)

Adult female Starling, whoosh-netted in a Biggleswade garden

She was growing new tail feathers. For Starlings, it's autumn already

Cetti's Warbler at Paxton Pits - the first-ever to be trapped and ringed there

A male Nightingale originally caught at Paxton a couple of years ago

Mr Cetti's Warbler

We seized the only opportunity for good Bank Holiday weather on Saturday. A visit for some ringing at Warren Villas was the way forward. We were pleasantly surprised to hear a Cetti's Warbler singing as we put up one of the nets. The sound got closer, and while we were securing one end of the net, a Cetti's Warbler appeared in the other end!

This is the first Cetti's Warbler to be ringed in the Ivel valley, the eighth ever to be ringed in Bedfordshire and the first for me (anywhere)!

We caught a nice selection of birds - Sedge, Reed and Garden Warblers, Blackcap, Song Thrush, Dunnock, Robin and Kingfisher.

photos taken with Canon EOS 30D